Finger lock for trouser creaser



May 12, 1959 'E.- D. LEE, JR

FINGER LOCK FOR TROUSER CREASER lN l ENTORI EDGAR 0. LEE;JR.

Filed May 4, 1956 United States P311 FINGER LOCK FOR TROUSER CREASER Edgar D. Lee, In, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Lee-Rowan Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application May 4, 1956, Serial No. 582,785

1 Claim. (Cl. 287-58) This invention relates to improvements in finger locks for garment stretchers and trouser creasers, and in particular is concerned with a lock which has means for receiving fingers upon it so it may be readily moved to and from the locking position. Q

- In the past, trouser creasers and garment stretchers have been made in the form of expansible, more or less rectangular metal strips, which are adjustable so that they beena loose fitting rectangular sleeve which was movable upon a raised locking portion in one of the strips and which would bind thereagainst to lock one strip against the other by friction. Such locks have been quite objectionable as in a good many instances they would Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved finger lockfor garment creasers made out of a single piece of fiat metal which is formed so as to. have a pair of spacedrraised portions on either side of the expansible pieces of metal which are adapted to be locked together with the raised portions being adapted to receive an operators fingers therebetween for proper grasping of the lock.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved finger lock for garment creasers made of a single piece of flat metal in a generally figure 8 configuration with openings at the opposed ends of the' loops to receive expansible pieces of metal strips therein and with the operators fingers being adapted to be received comfortably between and on opposite sides of the loops. Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved finger lock for garment creasers made of a simple metal stamping which can comfortably receive an operators fingers forcibly applied thereto and which is rugged in construction and inexpensive in cost. Further objects ofthis invention will appear in the detailed description which follows and will be further apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of this invention. It is to be understood'that the drawings are for the purpose of ex ample only and that the invention is not limited thereto.. In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view showing a-portion of a garment creaser device equipped with the finger lock of this, in-

be jammed and would resist unlocking. Friction is more or less evenly distributed due to the gentle taper of the raised portion-so as to bind against the interior of the sleeve and resist unlocking. This has been particularly objectionable when creasers have been used by housewiveswho have at times found this feature to be a source of some trouble, as at times a great deal of force was required to unlock the sleeve.

-.By .means'of this invention, there has been provided an improved finger lock which has finger grasping portions upon it so that it rnay be readily moved into and out of the locking position The finger lock is provided with opposed recesses on opposite sidesof the strips upon which it is used and is adapted to receive the thumb and the forefinger of the operator for the most efiicient utilization of these members. A great deal of force can be exerted upon the finger lock of this invention through the design of the finger receiving portions without any portion of the lock cutting into the fingers as has been the case in the past with the conventional rectangular sleeve lock. Further, this improved finger lock herein disclosed may be made from stamped metal and requires no complicated machine or forming operation. It is rugged and inexpensive in cost and can be readily operated into and out of the locking position under substantially all conditions.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a finger lock for garment creasers which has means upon it for receiving the fingers of an operators hands so that it may be easily manipulated into and out of locking position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a finger lock for a garment creaser which is made out of a single piece of metal and is so formed as to receive an operators fingers in recesses therein in a comfortable fashion to allow application of force without cutting into the fingers.

vention;

Figure 2 is an enlargedview in front elevation showingthe finger lock upon the expansible strips in:locking;j positionp. i g

Figure 3 is a view in section taken on the line 3.3 of, Figure 2 showing the left endof' the finger lock;

Figure 4 is a view in section taken on the line.4-4 of Figure 2 showing the finger locking'elements at .the ri'ght end of the finger lock; and

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section taken along the.

axis of the finger lock; a

In Figured, a portion of a garment creaser, generally indicatedat :10, is shown in fragmentary form.l .It is -to. beunde'rstood that thexbottom portion of the device is' similar to the top and that a finger lock to be described.

can be similarly employedfthereupon. The garmenti creaser 10 includes a metal strip 11 and a; metal strip, 121 which are movable toward and away from one another and adapted to be locked in a set position by a finger lock 13.

The strip 11 includes a leg portion 14 while the strip 12 also includes a leg portion 15 as shown more particularly in Figure 2. The end of the leg 14 has secured to it a rectangular sleeve 16 which fits loosely over the leg 15. In similar fashion, the leg 15 has secured to it a rectangular sleeve 17 which fits loosely over the leg 14. Through the sleeves, the legs are movable toward and away from one another and are kept in rigid parallelism. Thus, the legs may be telescoped upon one another to bring the metal strips 11 and 12 toward one another or expansion may be effected in a reverse fashion. In similar manner, the bottom of the garment creaser (not shown) may be adjusted.

In order to provide for the locking of the two strips together, the leg 15 is provided with an offset and tapering portion generally indicated at 21. This may be formed by a conventional bending operation by putting a sharp bend 22 in the leg 15. The gently tapering portion 23 when formed may actually be straight but since it is secured to the sleeve 17, it may assume a generally tapering configuration.

The lock 13, as shown more particularly in Figures 2, 3,--4 and 5 is formed of a single piece of flat sheet metal which is bent to shape. It is provided with two finger receiving portions 25 and 26 on opposed sides and these finger receiving portions are-between the loops -of--the gene'r-ally'numeral Sshapedconfiguration. The right end,- or locking loop, is indicated at 27 and the left end, or; guide-loop is indicated at 28-. Theloeking end. of the;

loop -27-is provided witha-rectangular-shaped opening 31"within which-are received the strip locking portion 23 ofi--leg 15 as well as leg 14.. The loop 28 is similarly provided with a rectangular opening 32' which-guideably receivesthe end of the leg 15 and leg 14, but as shown in- Figure 3, there is no locking relationship provided when the finger lock-is in the lock position.

- The locking member 13 is.verysimply constructed and isquiteruggeda ltisformed of sheet metal, as mentioned above, and the only machining operation required is the cutting or stamping out of the holes 31 and 32. When formed in the configuration shown in Figure 2, the bases of the finger receiving recesses 25 and 26 are spaced closely-adjacent to one another and are of sufiicient widthtoreceive the fingers and also to fit close to the legs 14 and 15.- Further, because the locking opening 31 in i the loop 27-is formed froma vertically disposed member,

there is no tendency to spring apart the lock and the lock* cannot be distorted and is of a very'permanent nature.

Operation I Thelegs 14 and 15 ofthe garmentcreaser are shownin .lockedrelationship in Figures'2 and -5; This relationshipdsachieved by moving the lock 13 :tothe right as As it is moved to the right, it causes.

lqckingrelationship is achieved, the vleg 15;.wi11 be pressed tightly against leg 14 so that relative movement therebetween is not possible.

This locking relationship is'shownin- Figure -4 and in Figure 5 whereit is-seenthat theexterior surfaces ofthe lockingzportion 23 of-leg 15, and the-leg .14 been against the edges of the opening 31, a tight fit. On the other hand, .ittwill be noted that the loop 28 has its opening 32 loosely disposed over the exterior surfaces. of-the end of a the leg- .15 and leg 14 so that the tightlockedfitiis accomplished :only-- through one loop -and opening at the righttend of the lock. This-provides for'obtaining a sure andsefiicient lock while, atthe same time, preventingt-too much friction or locking force to be applied so that" removal is: difficult.

The lock 13 isvery easily removed -fromthelocking 4 position shown in Figures 2 and 5 by placing the thumb and forefinger "in the finger receiving portions --25-and 26 and reversing the locking-force to move the lock in the left hand direction as viewed in Figures 2 and 5. The finger receiving portions 25 and 26 are so designed that the fingers may be applied against the opposite interior sides of the loop 28 with a large disposition of finger force without discomfort to the fingers. Thus, the lock may be l em v amin =pq it pnshownin Fi u 2 and 5, and the device is easily converted to the unlocked condition. I Reverse -rnovementof the lock5aga in to the I right hand direction where the fingers bear against the opposite interior sidesof the loop. 21 will then. effect the locking operation, with a return tothe condition shown in Figures 2 and 5.-

Various changes and modifications may be made in this invention and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such phanges and modifications are within the teaching of-this invention asdefined by-the scope ofthe claim appended hereto.

What is claimed isz A lock for two relatively movable rigid strips,- one ofy which is provided with an inclined offset portion, said lock being adapted to enclosea portion of-said strips and bind against the inclined portion, said lock-comprising a ibody formed from-rigid strip material having opposed 5 ends disposed at rightianglesto said movable strips and; provided withrectangular shaped openings to receive the strips therethrough whereby the loc-k'may be moved) toward and away from the offset portion,-corresponding to lockingand-unlocl ing-positions, -respectively, said body being further provided with gentlycurved recessed means" inopposed-surfaces of said lock-intermediate the ends; adapted to bear against-the outside faces ofsaid stripsand to receive the fingersofan operator-for firmly grasping the lock, said body having the general configuration of thefigure 8 with the opposed ends of; the loop being in the form of vertical portions disposed as; aforementioned 7? at right-angles to the movable strips and withfthe finger; receiving recess means beingspacedfrom-one another and f oppositely disposed between the loops-ofthe figure 8.

References Cited in the file of this patent IT TAT S A EN S 1,521,689 King Jan. 6,"-1925 1,896,302 Giles Feb.-7,*1933=" 2,204,354 Hansen June 11', 1940- 2,209; Mueller et al. Ju1y'-23,'-19.40 2,476,427 Melvin et al. July- 19,- 1949*1 FOREIGN; PATENTS- 109,796- Australia Mar-v16, 1939. 

